What Is Promotion? - If You Invite the Librarian for a Special Activity, You'll Have to Wait for the Next Municipal Council Meeting to Get Your Answer...

Mr. Georges Dinel
Mayor of Brownsburg-Chatham

March 25, 2010

Mr. Mayor,

Invited to the Salon de la lecture sponsored by Maison populaire de Lachute, I learned during a casual conversation with the organizers that they have asked one of the librarians of Brownsburg-Chatham to kindly host a Storytime activity. But the young woman replied that henceforth there should be a formal request to the clerk of the city, who would be responsible for providing information to the council which, in turn, will decide to give (or not) the green light . This was following a logical continuation of another board's decision to the effect that the librarians will no longer visit schools, such visits being deemed unnecessary and too costly.

I was surprised to hear that of a mayor who, in January, had ensured the coalition We Deserve Better of the importance he attached to the culture and the library. But I'm surprised even more to hear that from someone claiming to be respectful of democratic principles of freedom and transparency.

Whether you disagree with the coalition about the future location of the library, this is understandable. But when you stab in the latter's budget, when you fire a librarian, when you ban those who are involved in activities outside their normal place of work, it sounds like fierceness.

This way of acting reminds me of some African potentates who are legitimately elected and then become dictators drunk on power.

Requiring librarians to remain at home in their small room, is to punish the children of Brownsburg-Chatham. They are the ones that you deprive of a gateway to culture and also - more seriously - access to their imagination. That, Mr. Mayor, is a violation of this unwritten law that requires that the child has all the tools available to develop his talents and become a responsible and respectable adults.

The role of the school is to teach young life. The visits of librarians are part of that learning. Their participation in local cultural events is also part of their prerogatives as they give visibility to the institution that employs them.

I think, finally, that your council has other fish to fry than this kind of misery. When the board takes on such issues, he says both that it does not trust the employees and secondly it shows that he has not quite fully understood what a priority is.

I sincerely hope, Mr. Mayor, that you're going to try to rectify this situation which is giving an unenviable reputation to Brownsburg-Chatham .

François Jobin


Excerpt taken from Politique de la lecture et du livre, Tiré à part: « Les bibliothèques publiques » du ministère de la culture et des communications, Le temps de lire, un art de vivre :

Promoting regional initiatives and animation projects to reach  mobile customers

Until now, the libraries have been unable to extensively promote their services due to insufficient resources. However, to reach more people, it is important to create new services on a regional basis as well as advocacy and leadership. Libraries could use more partnerships in organizing promotional activities, such as regional events to promote reading. They could also pool their expertise in the development of specialized services to reach specific groups (disabled, cultural communities, etc.). And serve some customers through services "without walls" (clubs and retirement homes, hospitals , literacy groups, etc..). This type of service already exists in Denmark, for example, since the early 1980s.

We know that across Quebec the rate of users is on average 31% and that there are significant differences from one region to another, with rates ranging from 19% to 40%. When comparing these data with other Canadian provinces where the rates can sometimes exceed 50%, it is unrealistic to think there is a pool of potential subscribers across the province. Moreover, given the nature of the factors that prevent some of the public to attend these public services and the negative consequences of social exclusion which is the case for citizens who live outside of reading, a higher rate of users must necessarily be based on new activities for cultural and community action to be more dynamic and better targeted.

To achieve these objectives, the Ministry of Culture and Communications will develop a program of engagement facilitators or mediators of the book that act as intermediaries between the library and the citizens whose task will be to:

• prioritize reaching people who do not attend public libraries;
• create animation activities with those persons involved in the living areas of the district;
• organize activities in the personalized library to help citizens to appropriate places and learn about the tools available books and documentaries;
• develope collaborations between the public library, school and child care to develop reading habits and interests of use libraries in the young customers;
• promote exchanges between citizens on presentation of books and entertainment activities around the original book;
• establish ongoing relationships with partners in social and community organizations concerned about reading and books.

Let us note that since the development of the policy by the Parti Québecois in 1998, the Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec has studied the situation of public libraries in Québec compared with other Canadian provinces. And it seems that Québec is doing better. Alas, Brownsburg-Chatham goes against the grain. The report is still hot and will be talked of shortly on this blog. Come again!